• FROM THE DIRECTOR: Will Africa Ever Get It Right?...
   • Proverbs 31 Women in Tribal Dress
   • Giving Credit No More Credit Than It's Due
   • Watering the Seeds Without Trampling Them
   • Catching an Anglican Wave
   • Chalmers Center Announcements and Key Links

This disturbing question, which headlines a recent article in The Economist (April 26, 2007) magazine, is a question that an increasing number of observers have been asking lately. The article laments the fact that, on average, real income per person in the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa rose by only 25% between 1960 and 2005.  By way of comparison, over the same time period... READ MORE >>

Their ears strain to hold up their heavy earrings. In fact, their entire bodies strain under the weight of being Masai women. Viewed as property by the men, Masai women are subjected to backbreaking work, female genital mutilation, polygamy, and low levels of education.

Despite these obstacles, each of the dozen Masai women meeting in this small church along a road in rural Kenya could pass for the woman described in Proverbs 31, whose hard work, entrepreneurship, and faith resulted in praise from her children and her husband. The Masai women in this meeting hold their heads high as they discuss how ... READ MORE >>

Smoke from the burning herbs fills the church as the women sing and clap their hands in an act of spiritual warfare. On the floor at the front of the church lays a smoldering bag of "medicines," the entire inventory from a witchdoctor's lucrative business going up in flames.

Next to the fire stands the witchdoctor, her body bruised and scarred by the beatings that she has received over the years from others in this slum in urban Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The Anglican pastor lays hands on the witchdoctor, asking God to deliver her from demonic oppression, to help her forsake her witchcraft, to free her from the scourge of alcohol, and to follow Jesus Christ.

All of this had happened so quickly. Just a few minutes earlier, ... READ MORE >>

Dependency. Dependency. Dependency. Talk to any seasoned missionary about the African church—and even many unseasoned ones—and this word comes up constantly. Most observers believe that dependency on the western church is crippling the church in Africa, the flow of human and financial resources from the west undermining the development of indigenous leadership and local giving in Africa. Many argue that the explosion of short-term missions has only exacerbated this long-standing problem.   READ MORE >>

"The Kingdom Is Our Business:  Fighting Poverty, Creating Jobs, Transforming Lives." Under that motto, Archbishop Nzimbi launched the Anglican Church of Kenya's Microenterprise Development Network (ACK-MED) in August 2006 during the opening ceremonies of one of the Chalmers Center's Christian Economic Development Institutes. ACK-MED seeks to bring microenterprise development training and resources to the approximately 5 million members of the ACK.

ACK-MED originated in the minds of several visionary Kenyans, as they traveled back to Kenya following a Christian Economic Development Institute (CEDI) delivered by Chalmers ... READ MORE >>

   • Course descriptions
   • Distance learning course schedule and registration
   • New Course: "Short-terms Missions Without Long-term Harm"
   • Host a Christian Economic Development Institute (CEDI)
   • Donate to the work of the Chalmers Center
   • Apply for the new Senior Director position